"You... Could you say that again? I think there's something wrong with my ability to understand."
A strange expression appeared on Tao Yu's face, as if he were asking whether the other man could perform that once more.
The Heavenly Thearch's consciousness inside the Blade of Time fell silent for a moment, then repeated the whole story of how the Shore experts had attacked him and why.
At Thor's urging, the Demon Lord had launched a counterattack against the Nine Heavens, only to be killed single-handedly by the Heavenly Thearch.
But the Demon Lord had already attained the Shore. His attack on the Nine Heavens had exposed some secrets, apparently involving the mystery of the Dao Fruit!
That had sent the Ancient Ones who hoped to attain the Dao Fruit into a frenzy. The Three Pure Ones and Buddha Ancestor had racked up a spectacular victory, killing the Heavenly Thearch right on his doorstep.
If that had been all, it would have made sense.
After all, they were fighting for their own interests, and what could matter more than the Dao Fruit?
But in the end, the Heavenly Thearch had left them with the words, "The Dao Fruit depends on nothing outside itself." Most of the attackers had left, while Buddha Ancestor of Spirit Mountain had consumed the fruit and become the second being to attain the Dao Fruit.
But!
After what Primordial Heavenly Venerate and the others had said earlier, even the Heavenly Thearch had begun to suspect that Buddha Ancestor's situation might not be as good as it seemed.
The Dao Fruit was unspeakable and unthinkable; the moment one tried to conceive it, one went astray. No matter how strange its state was, the others couldn't understand it. This was only the Heavenly Thearch's guess.
In any case,